<p>yes, mom60. I think the whole Mono thing was a false alarm. Appears to have been just a bad cold, no sign of strep or mono in the end. Another small favor.</p>
<p>concerneddad- I hope you’re right. Watch me help him try to shoehorn a Square Peg into a Round Hole with your essay idea. Katrina essay as a one day adventure? He can do that. Katrina essay as “why I want to transfer.” Yep. Katrina essay as an intellectual idea to share - I bet we can figure that angle, too. Katrina essay on what you want your roommate to know about you. That works. (of course, where you have to write all 3 of these to the same school, he could lose points for redundancy :D) You may be on to something, with a little tweaking.</p>
<p>Tulane. Hurricane Katrina. Engineering student. BTW, college is fun and I want to do more of it at a place similar to Tulane in these ways. La la la. (Just kidding.) Seriously, if you want us to do all essay reviewing, just ask. You should be exempt from that as well as Christmas shopping.</p>
<p>You are fixated on the essay because of all those bad memories from last year - would be a very reasonable thing to fixate on at my house!</p>
<p>I know that it is little comfort until everything is resolved, but i agree with others that accomodations are going to be found for these frosh engineering majors - the Pity Party will help keep your sanity as your family is moving from now to then.</p>
<p>garland - it could be like a barn raising! a quilting bee! We’ll all get together and write the essays. Then we’ll have Baked Beans, Glazed Ham, Potato Salad and pies, pies, pies! </p>
<p>I am going into the Party Business. Pity Party first. Essay Bee next. Transfer on a Silver Platter as the Gala Finale party.</p>
<p>Waaaaaaah! Of course you deserve a pity party, catered with a full bar.</p>
<p>I think the decision to go to Dodge for a semester at least is a good one. He would learn so much. Tulane is New Orleans’ largest employer. New Orleans was a modern 20th century western city. It has been run into the ground by a…hurricane and a flood? It’s all so biblical.</p>
<p>Your thinking is my thinking, cheers. It is like a “semester abroad” right here. While he’s doing that, we’ll be writing his essays. Very efficient.</p>
<p>One more reason to go to Tulane for spring is that he may be able to connect with other engineering students and profs, and in turn be in a better position to find out about available options. My guess is that there will be other universities with good engineering programs eager to snap up displaced Tulane students - and Tulane itself will probably work out something in terms of an expedited transfer process. But if your son is physically at Tulane he may be in a better position to pick up the buzz about which programs are the best… and where the displaced Tulane faculty are going to end up. </p>
<p>On another note entirely… was your son an early admit to Tulane, or did he get admitted to and turn down other colleges last year? The colleges that admitted him once often keep those admit files open for 2 years and may be more than happy to waive most of the paperwork for a transfer essay. I agree with Alumother on the basic content of the essay: “Tulane. Katrina. Engineering” is all that is needed, though in the interest of proving basic literacy it might be worthwhile to try to weave those ideas into some complete sentences.</p>
<p>I’ll bring the wine! The hostess gets to open it in the kitchen after we all leave. I will, however, spare you the assembled guests the pity song that always runs through my brain for some bizarre reason: “Why, oh Why, oh Why-o, Why Did I Ever Leave Ohio.” Instead, how about a (modified) chorus from the Fugs: Monday, pity. Tuesday, pity. Wednesday and Thursday, pity. Friday, pity, Saturday pity, Sunday…more pity. </p>
<p>Just as a guess, I think the essay will not matter a whole lot for your kid. Don’t transfer applications basically ask why someone is transferring and why he thinks the college he’s applying to would meet his needs? I think that’s what it’s about, rather than an epiphany on the high school ball field. As long as a college gets the sense that he knows something about them and their engineering program, and didn’t just pick them out of the “Anywhere But Tulane or Bates” hat. So, maybe you can help him gather some of that information – as well as information about which colleges with the programs he wants take the most transfer students.</p>
<p>A question about the Spring: is there a difference between Tulane and Bates as to the courses he could take, with an eye towards what the engineering programs he’d like to transfer into would require of first years?</p>
<p>Sorry I am late to the party (I had to sneak a few bottles out of SA so that we can drown our sorrows in the comfort of your home:) ) I stay and help with the clean up.</p>
<p>I agree with Calmom, in this case it might be in his best interest to return to Tulane for the spring term and go through the transfer process (he will not be at a loss for havign a good reason to transfer) from NOLA. </p>
<p>Since the school has made the decision to disband some of the engineering departments, he would be right there in terms of connecting with other schools and departments that are amenable to taking on transfers from Tulane’s engineering program.</p>
<p>Gosh, jmmom, I can’t even begin to imagine everything y’all must be going through at this time. I’m so sorry! I do hope everything works out for your DS as well as the rest of the students who have been so affected and displaced by Katrina. A big hug and a pat on the back for you. Your son is so lucky to have someone like you who has invested so much in this process. I can’t imagine what it’s like for those kids who have no one to help them. Behind every cloud lies a silver lining … I’m hoping that is so true for your DS!</p>
LOL, calmom. And I need all those LOL endorphins I can get. </p>
<p>And, Yes, I am so hopeful that there will be some expediting and snapping up going on. I was hoping to see that steamroller begin now - kind of like it did immediately after Katrina for the Visiting Student program. But maybe it’s too soon for a myriad of reasons - not so catastrophic, not affecting so many, not 24/7 news, …and… we’re in the middle of semester-ending exams, vacation and school shutdowns. So, I continue to think spring at Tulane is the right place for many reasons, being where the “transfer action” is as one of them.</p>
<p>Now, if we can just overcome the need to write clever essays on tangential topics (notice that I have demoted “demonstrate your intellectual curiosity” to a tangential topic), we’re home free.</p>
<p>sac - you and I agree about what the transfer essays <em>ought</em> to be all about. Unfortunately, schools like Stanford, JHU, Rice all seem to be so enamored of their freshman essay topics that they want them for transfers too.</p>
<p>The courses he will take this Spring would be very much the same anywhere, as it is for all Engineering students. More Physics,more Math, more Chem. At Tulane he would do Computer Science and an Engineering overview - not available at Bates. At Bates, he would do another hum/soc sci elective. I think there is some value in exploring the engineering overview and Comp Sci this spring, now that I focus on that. Another reason to head to NOLA in January.</p>
<p>I forget who asked - he did have a couple of other acceptances in a pretty safety category. don’t know if he’ll want to pursue those. Because of the EA, the love of Tulane, and the merit $$, he did not go forward with apps to reachy-matches or reaches, except for Stanford which was a deny.</p>
<p>I really do think that both Tulane and the schools to which he wishes to transfer might have advice on these very special circumstances which may not go through the normal process. I think you are right to contact both Tulane and the schools to which he is interested in going to next. I agree with someone else in asking had he applied and been accepted to any other schools originally last year? If so, talk to those schools as well. Going to Tulane next semester as opposed to staying on one more semester at Bates only makes sense if it will allow him to take some freshmen engineering courses he’ll need that he could not take at Bates and so I do get that point now. </p>
<p>Susan
PS, as others mention, he has plenty of fodder for an essay…his entire experience this year would be easy to spill out and demonstrate resiliency.</p>
<p>jmmom,I just want to say how sorry I am to hear about Tulane’s decision and the effect it is having on engineering students in genreal and your son in particular. It sounds as though your famiy has a pretty good sense of how to approach next year, and it also seems to me that going to Tulane next semester would be a good idea, in terms of connecting with the other engineerings students (not to mention the displaced faculty) and seeing what is really happening in New Orleans. The latter might be intersting fodder for the essays, too, and there are certainly engineering as well as social issues involved in what happened after Katrina. </p>
<p>I remember from visits to Bates when my children were applying that Bates considers itself tp have some degree of grade deflation so I would think that if your son ends up with a mix of As and Bs this semester that is quite impressive, especially given the circumstances; those grades should trump any weakness in his SATs. It seems a shame that colleges wouldn’t make some allowances for transfer student essays, particulary Tulane transfer students; squeezing them into the freshman essay slots seems unreasonable, but then, so is the whole college process at times.</p>
<p>If I remember the Stanford essay question, it was to attach a photo and explain it’s importance in your life. I can’t imagine there is a shortage of photos of the destruction of New Orleans… Maybe it can be the photo that replaces 650 words.</p>
<p>Anyway, I do agree that Tulane next semester sounds like the better bet, especially if that’s what he wants to do. I imagine professors, too, will be scrambling for jobs around the country, and so there won’t be an engineering department in the U.S. that won’t be aware of what has happened to engineering at Tulane.</p>
<p>Yes, sac, that was one of the essays for Stanford LY. Didn’t see it on the transfer app. They are: your most meaningul EC; share an intellectual interest, describing an experience you find intellectually exciting and why; why transfer and why Stanford; your most significant accomplishment and how it prepared you for Stanford.</p>
<p>Oh, well, I’ve beaten the essay doldrums to death.</p>
<p>I have now heard through unofficial channels that there will be opportunities to visit other Engineering programs during the spring term at Tulane “on their nickel and on their time.” Don’t know the specifics, so I am thinking I may begin to get my wish of streamlined transfer app process once the kids and faculty are assembled on campus.</p>
<p>If that happens, does that mean I have to end my party :o?</p>
Maybe it can be the photo that replaces 650 words.</p>